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Thad Phillips to Direct Storm Men’s Hoop Program
May 4, 2010
Thad Phillips
Keuka College has selected Thad Phillips, assistant coach at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., to be its new head men’s basketball coach.
Phillips replaces Tom Flood, who announced his retirement in March.
“We felt Thad was a perfect fit for Keuka College,” said Athletic Director Dave Sweet. “As a successful NCAA Division III student-athlete and coach, he knows the dedication and work ethic it takes to compete on this level and understands the role that the term ‘student’ means in student-athlete.”
Phillips has served as assistant men’s basketball coach and associate coordinator of recreation services at Rhodes since 2007. He was an assistant basketball and women’s golf coach at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Ga., in 2006-07 and a graduate assistant at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisc., from 2004-06. From 2001-04 he served as assistant coach/head freshman coach at Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon.
Phillips earned a master’s degree in health education from Carroll College and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Concordia University Wisconsin. He was a three-year letter winner on the Concordia hoop squad and served as co-captain of the conference championship team as a senior. Phillips earned all-conference honorable mention honors as a junior.
“I am grateful to President [Joseph] Burke and Dave Sweet for giving me the opportunity to be a head coach on the Division III level,” said Phillips. “I am excited to become a part of the Keuka College family and tradition.”
Phillips came away from his interview impressed by the College’s location on the shore of Keuka Lake and the College’s commitment to experiential learning.
“The campus is beautiful, which helps in recruiting,” he explained. “From an academic perspective, I believe that experiential learning and the real-world experience our players receive are keys to their growth and future success. My program will focus on academics; our players will do the right things, get good grades and graduate in four years.”
On the court, Phillips said his team will be known for defense.
“We will stop people; we will get after it and our teams will not be outworked,” he said. “It will be organized chaos; we will get teams to play at a different speed than they are used to playing. We will attack on both ends of the court.”
Phillips’ inaugural Keuka edition will be coming off a 9-16 mark in 2009-10, but will return two second team All-North Eastern Athletic Conference performers in Calvin Logins and Diamond Booker. Logins, 6-4 guard/forward, led the Storm in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (9.8) while Booker, a 6-7 center, averaged 11.4 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks an outing.
Rhodes College—like Keuka—is an NCAA Division III school. The Lynx compete in the Southern College Athletic Conference.
